1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup element that includes a plurality of pixels sharing one microlens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previously, an image pickup apparatus that performs a focus detection based on a phase difference of two pupil-divided images obtained from an image pickup element including a plurality of pixels sharing one microlens has been known. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-83407 discloses an image pickup apparatus that includes an image pickup element including the plurality of pixels sharing one microlens. The image pickup apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-83407 may obtain a high-quality image output by performing a focus detection based on a phase difference of two pupil-divided images obtained from the image pickup element and generating an image pickup signal using an added signal (added charge) of the plurality of pixels sharing one microlens.
However, in the image pickup apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-83407, when each of the divided pixels is saturated, the focus detection and the improvement in image quality may not be realized simultaneously.